Relief from the pain
by Tigger05
Summary: I suck at summaries. unxpected consequences from terrible actions. this is a babe hea story There will be some violence, mention of rape, murder,etc. The normal things that surround stephanie plum's life. Not cupcake friendly.
1. Chapter 1

NEED BETA

Characters belong to Ms. Evanovich as do some details an places. However the concept is mine.

I suck at ummaries so im just gonna dive in.

Pain. The first sensation I remember feeling was pain. Everywhere it seemed. There wasn't a part of my body that didn't feel as though it was on fire. My head screamed at me, my back, and my stomach seemed to be protesting the most. I tried to take a deep breath to help clear my head and cried out in pain. Definitely a few broken and bruised ribs. Ok, shallow breaths. I managed to get my breathing under control and pushed the pain aside. I began assessing my other senses. I could open my eyes, no blindfold, but it was dark. I could hear water or something dripping and it sounded hollow, wherever I was, it was large dark room, possibly a warehouse. I was obviously naked as a draft ghosted across my skin causing goosebumps, and lying in a puddle of…of something. I could smell the metallic scent of blood, probably my own. I reached up to touch my head and my hand came away sticky.

Ok, so im naked, bloodied, bruised and abandoned. Not the first time. I layed still continuing to try to get my bearings and make sure I was alone. The memories slowly drifted in. Oliver Chase. I was on a stakeout for a man who beat and raped his wife and then tried to burn the house down. A ten thousand dollar payday for me. I took it because it was his first offense, he had solid ties to the community and had a dying mother he was helping to take care of. That and Ranger had up'd the amount of the lowest bond he would take from Vinnie. Over the last eighteen months I finally got my head screwed on straight. I got training from Rangeman, I carried a loaded gun at all times, even had my permit to carry concealed. I could flatten a guy three times my size and not break a sweat. So the higher bonds, the more violent skips had become my territory. I was perfectly capable of handling this fugitive, so how did I end up where I did?

***Three days ago***

Ten p.m. Thursday night found me sitting in Old blue, again, watching the house of Mrs. Elina Chase, mother of my latest skip, Oliver Chase. I had talked to his sister and I knew that his shift for taking care of his mother was supposed to start soon. The man was a momma's boy through and through, this was confirmed by anyone and everyone I had talked to, even the man's wife who lay in the hospital, still recovering from her injuries from his violent assault and rape a week before. The man was too attached to his mother to miss his shift with her. So I sat and waited. Before too long I saw someone who looked similar to my skip walking down the street towards me. I angled out of the buick and began to walk towards him, I never saw the man come out of the shadows, place a cloth over my mouth and stab me in the neck with a syringe.

There are only flashes of the next three days, random visions of a dimly lit room with just a creaky old bed with a threadbare flat mattress. Springs poking through, bound by the hands and feet to the top and bottom of the bed. I never saw the face of the man or men who had kidnapped me and were obviously tourturing me. I was routinely injected with some sort of sedative. Which caused even more of a haze and missing time.

***Present***

I laid there a while longer until I felt that I could move without passing out. I rolled over to my side and that's when I felt the pain between my legs. Ohh please no, I thought… but even as I prayed it wasn't true I had a flashback of a masked man looming over me,

***flashback**

"Hold still bitch, I want to have some fun!" A man wearing a ski mask used his full weight to hold me down while he reached between us and unzipped his pants. At this point I seemed to float away, I knew what was happening but I couldn't feel it, I had stopped struggling and laid there. God Ranger, I thought, I am so sorry. I am so sorry that I am letting this man do this to me. We had made love the night before, just hours before I was caught. It was a quickie, but we both needed that connection before heading to our separate jobs for the night. Ranger will never want me again after he finds out what this monster is doing to me. I cried as I waited for the man to finish and blacked out again when he slapped me in the face. "Whore's don't cry bitch!"

***Present**

I leaned over and vomited, stomach bile and what must be the water they gave me to at least keep me alive while they had their fun. I was ruined, I thought, Ranger will never want me again. I gathered myself together and managed to get to my hands and feet. I spotted a small beam of light on the other side of the room and crawled my way there slowly, skirting the mess I had made on the floor. Feeling my way with my hands. Ranger may hate me, but Grandma Mazur will be missing me. She wasn't in the best of health these days and I had already missed two of my visits with her this week if not more. I had no idea how long I had been out.

It seemed as though id had been crawling for hours when I finally reached the other side of the room. I stopped, held my breath and strained my ears to see if there was anyone on the other side. I heard nothing except cars in the distance. Wherever I was, it wasn't a main road. I moved so I could peek through the small crack and was greeted with an empty parking lot. I used the wall to support myself as I made my way to my feet, before opening the door wider to get a better look. There was a dumpster nearby but nothing else except what looked to be other empty buildings. I opend the door more and leaned out, not spotting anyone, I pushed the door wider and used the light to look around the inside of the building I had been in. I saw what might be a blanket in the corner and made my way to it. I grabbed it and hear something scurry off into the dark. I shivered and tried not to think about what creature I just stole a bed from. I went back to the door and examined the blanket. It had more holes than it had material left but it would do. I wrapped it around myself and made sure the major bits were covered. It wasn't cold so I wasn't worried about freezing. I left the building and began to walk across the lot to where I could see cars.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Characters and anything recognizable belong to MS. Evanovich, Im just playing with them.

RPOV

Three days, it had been three days since I got the call that Babe's car had gone offline. They couldn't get a read on her personal tracker in her purse because the signal kept going in and out, as if it was either faulty of something was interfering with the signal. We searched her apartment for any clues, but nothing had been touched. Rex was relocated to the fifth floor break room at Haywood until we found Steph. We knew she was doing surveillance on her skip when she disappeared. We questioned his family and found he had never shown up for his shift with his mother and hadn't been heard from since. The core team and I began digging into her skip… looking for anything and everything that might give us a clue, some idea as to why she was taken. It was finally Hector who found the link.

*_Spanish* _

_My Brothers, I think I've found it. The file has Chase working at a warehouse at the shore._

This sent shivers down all our spines. If chase worked at one specific warehouse, we knew what was going on.

Tank asked quietly _"Which warehouse Hector?" _

_The one on pier 13, Studdens warehouse._

We all froze. Studden was a big time drug mover, but no one could pin him to anything. He operated through shell companies, off-shore accounts and washed his money through several business on Stark street. His warehouse, which served as a holding place for companies he rented it out to for import and export was legitimate ad the books weren't cooked. But the fact that Chase worked for him and both he and steph were missing was too much of a coincidence to not be linked.

We all looked at each other and had an idea of where to begin looking for my Babe. Studden owned some vacant warehouses at the very end of Stark. Infact nearly that whole of end of Stark was abandoned. It would be a good place to dump a body, it could be months before it was found.

We hauled ass down to the garage and piled into several suv's and made our way to stark

**Unknown POV**

"Is she dead?"

"Should be by now, we left her in an empty warehouse at the end of stark. She will bleed to death before someone finds her."

"You left her on Stark?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, then it wont be traced back to me when they find her rotting corpse in six months."

*SPOV*

I started walking across the lot towards the street. I had no clue where I was, but I figured that someone would stop and atleast call 911 for me, once they saw me. I was about halfway to the road when a big black suv came roaring into the lot followed by what must have been a dozen more. I collapsed, tears of relief flowing down my face. I just knew my Batman was here.

*RPOV*

We pulled into the lot and I saw a figure stumbling towards the road and I just knew, I just knew it was her. My feet were on the pavement before the wheels even stopped rolling. I was running towards her faster than I have ever run before. I was scooping her into my arms barely acknowledging her cry of pain. I gently placed her back on her feet, holding her by the arms to steady her. Bobby came running up and began examining her and tank was on the phone with ems letting them know where we were.

I just held her, talked to her, told her how much I loved her and I was so sorry that I didn't find her sooner. She cried and told me she was ok. She was glad I was there and not to be sorry. It was her fault she was abducted, she knew about Chase's link to Studden and didn't take any backup with her when she went to pick him up. She was belittling herself. I kissed her to shut her up. "It is not your fault that some jackass decided to mess with my woman.

The next few hours were a blur. The ride in the ambulance with Ranger holding my hand seemed to take forever and yet only moments at the same time. I was covered in a blanket and iv's placed into my arms, the paramedics flashing a penlight into my eyes every few minutes and Ranger.. alternating between talking to me in English an whispering in Spanish. Reassuring me and praying at the same time. I didn't understand his prayer but dios was said a lot and I knew he was praying to god for me to be ok. And I'm sure there were some pretty colorful threats in there for the men who had done this to me.

We arrive at the hospital and I was taken into a trauma room where I had even more fluids and medications pumped into me. I was severly dehydrated and lost a lot of blood to the point where I needed a transfusion. A rape kit was done on me. I cried when they told me that the man or men did not use a condom. I was given medications to fight any kind of disease I may have been exposed to. The doctor came in and talked privately with me and Ranger.

"Stephanie," His expression grave, "We have given you every medication we can to combat any diseases those men may have passed to you, but due to your bloodloss and transfusion we cannot give you the morning after pill. One you've been gone for three days. The pill is only good in the first twenty-four hours. And with the need for the transfusion an all the trauma you have faced, the medication could possibly cause you to hemmorage. If you did conceive we can take care of that when you are ready."

I sat in shock, gripping Rangers hand, then what the doctor said sank in. I could be carrying a rapist's baby. I suddenly felt very sick, without even having to say anything I turned towards Ranger and he already had a trashcan ready. I heaved so hard it made my stomach hurt. I didn't have much in my stomach to throw up but what little was there hit the bottom of the can. Ranger smoothed a hand up and down my back as I continued to dry heave. Once the tremors passed I leaned back on the bed. Ranger used a cool cloth to wipe the sweat from my face and I looked at the doctor.

Is there a way to test if I am pregnant already? Wouldn't there already be a change in my hormones?

"Not yet, Stephanie. We will have to wait at least a week or two before any test could really be trusted." He answered. "Is there a possibility that you may already be pregnant?" He looked between me and Ranger.

I thought about that for a moment. Ranger and I hadn't really been strict with using condoms the last few weeks and I had missed my birth-control shot this last month. Ranger and I had decided together that if it happened it happened and if it didn't we would get down to the business of trying after he completed his last mission and his contract ended. Which was only a few months away.

I looked at Ranger then the Doctor. Yes there is a possibility, I missed my last shot and we haven't been all that consistent with using condoms.

"I will tell you what I am going to do. I am going to test your blood for the HCG hormone, the pregnancy hormone, and see what that number is at and then we will test daily for the next week. If it changes then we will do an internal ultrasound to see if there is anything to see yet. It will give us an idea of how far along you are if you are pregnant. "

With that he left and the room became very quiet. Ranger's face was unreadable. Blank face was firmly in place.

Ranger, if I am pregnant there is a chance it is yours. But also a chance its not. I could not have an abortion. It is not the baby's fault that it was conceived in the way it was. It is an innocent human life. I need to know if you will accept that decision and stand by me. They can test early on for paternity, we wouldn't have to wait too long to know if you were the father or not. But regardless, I will not end its life. Are you willing to accept that and stand by me?

_AN:Please no bashing, my choice of what stephanie will do about the possibly pregnancy does not necessarily reflect my views. It is just a storyline._


	3. Authors Note

**Before there is a debate on Pro-choice or not. The idea of Stephanies view on abortion is just part of the story, it does not necessarily reflect my views either way. Please keep that in mind before submitting a review.**


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The Main characters are not mine. They infact belong in a universe created by one Janet Evanovich I just made up the plot.

AN: I struggled with how I wanted this chapter to go. Feedback from the reviewers helped me figure out what i wanted next. I know how the main storyline is going to go, but I will be relying on you guys to help me with some of the little things. Thanks a bunch for all the positive reviews. I write for you guys. Enjoy this next chapter, its a bit longer.

*RPOV*

Pregnant? Could she really be pregnant? My first emotion was of joy that it was mine and shortly there after it was shattered by the thought that it might belong to her rapist. Could I raise a rapist's child as my own? Stephanie already felt she could and she didn't even know if she was pregnant yet. If she felt that she could live with a monsters seed growing within her, could love it, could raise it without regret, then I could too… couldn't I? I turned to Steph and told her my decision.

"Babe, whatever child inside of you, if there is one, is half you. I love all of you, I will love that baby. If its mine, I'm over the moon and if it doesn't have my biology, it's still mine. Because you are mine. You have been mine since the day we met in the diner. Neither of us was bright enough to see it yet." A corner of her mouth quirked up in a slight smile. She placed one hand on my face and one on her belly. "I love you, Ricardo Carlos Manoso, and I always will." She said. I loved it when she said my full name. I loved the way it rolled off her tounge. Hector had been teaching her Spanish and she was now able to roll her r's like a pro. If she hadn't been in a hospital bed, hooked to a million machines and had just been through a trauma no one should have to endure, I might have gotten a little excited with the way she said my name. She gave me a knowing look. I guess my blank face had slipped away. But I could tell she was exhausted. "Sleep cara," I said. "You need your rest so that you may recover quickly." With a gently smile and a squeeze of my hand she fell asleep. A nurse came in to check her vitals and that all her tubes and wires were working properly. She commented that Stephanie was still very pale and that she made need another transfusion before being considered out of the woods. I felt my heart clench at the thought that I could still lose her. I stayed with her, by her side, never letting go over her hand. I wanted her to have that comfort, even in sleep, of knowing I was still there. Several of my men came and went, trying to persuade me to at least go and take a break. To eat, stretch my legs, get some air. Tank, Lester and Bobby all offered to take watch so I could go to the family room and take a nap. There was a constant guard outside of Steph's room and If I choose to go take a nap, there would be one for me as well. But I wasn't leaving my babe's side for anything. I dozed off and on in my chair, still holding on to her small delicate hand. I ate when Ella came and threatened to have me admitted for dehydration and starvation. No one could tell that saintly woman no. Besides, who wants to eat hospital food anyway. The nurse came in and took some blood from Stephanie's iv. She didn't even stir. She told me it was for the testing that the doctor had spoken with us about earlier. I nodded, but never took my eyes off my babe. I told myself that we didn't care what the results were, we would take it all in stride. It was what she wanted and how she wanted it to be. And I would do anything for her.

*Unknown POV*

"SHE IS ALIVE?! How is that even possible. You said she was as good as dead. You should have made sure she was dead before you left her there. I can't believe you were so stupid and careless. You could have left evidence to lead them to us."

"I am sorry sir. I really didn't think she was going to make it. She had lost a lot of blood and I was sure that she had a punctured lung with the way she was breathing. I didn't think she would last 5 hours, let alone wake up enough to make her way out of the warehouse"

"Well it doesn't really matter now, I will just have to deal with it on my own, now wont I?"

"Sir?"

"You have outlived your usefulness, Chase. Goodbye." A shot rang out and the other man dropped to the floor.

"Time to clean up this mess."

*SPOV*

I slowly made my way back up to the land of the living, peaking one eye open, trying to adjust to the bright sunlight making its way into my new room. I had been moved at some point, but I didn't even remember it happening. I opened my other eye and looked over to see Ranger slumped over the side of my bed. His hair tousled from sleep, his mouth slightly open and the faintest little snore coming from him. I giggled a little and then sucked in a breath as the pain in my chest hit me. My squeak of pain must have woken ranger as he sat bolt upright and quickly move up by my head. "Careful babe, you have a couple of broken ribs and nearly all the rest are bruised. They don't have them taped yet because they have to watch for any internal bleeding. Do you want me to call the nurse and get you some pain medication?" He asked, gently stroking my cheek. I shook my head no. I knew there really was no safe pain killers while pregnant and even though we didn't know if I was yet, I was still going to be cautious. I focused on my breathing until the pain subsided. I looked over and saw I was the proud owner of yet another iv. This one was obviously blood. "I needed another transfusion?" I asked Ranger. "Yes, they said you had lost more blood than they thought and your body wasn't making new blood fast enough to compensate. So they gave you another unit. But the doctors are confident it will be the last."

The doctor came in then to check on me and talk to us. "How are you feeling this morning, Stephanie?"

"Like I was hit by a mac truck. But who can complain when they've got batman as their bedside entertainment?" I gave Ranger my most shit eating grin, and he actually stuck his tongue out at me. "Wait did I just see that or are all the drugs making me hallucinate"

The doctor laughed. Nope Steph, he really did stick his tongue out at you. Now on to business. Your labs are coming back better than when you arrived yesterday. This last unit of blood is really helping move things along. We are going to keep you here for a while. You have a nasty concussion, staples in the back of your head, and until we can tape up your ribs, you are stuck in that bed. Your shoulder was dislocated and will probably be sore for at least a week. And I am amazed that you walked as far as they say you did. You left ankle is broken. We have it splinted and we will reevaluate it once the swelling has gone down to see if we can cast it or if you will need surgery. You have some major trauma to a few other places as well and will be sore for quite some time, and will need time to heal. So even when you are out of this place, there will be no physical activity for at least six weeks to two months." He said this last bit with a look at Ranger.

"He's not the one you have to worry about pushing things too quickly, that's my department." I said with a wink.

"Now, one last thing," He said. "Your hormone levels are slightly higher than normal so we are going to retest again in two days. If you are pregnant, your HCG should double between now and then. Once we confirm it that way we will schedule an internal ultrasound . If you are up for it. It is not as invasive as your usual yearly exam, but with the trauma you have experienced , it will be uncomfortable an possibly even a little traumatic as it may bring up memories of what you went through. I know you said you were drugged and don't remember much, but muscle memory has a way of sparking your actual psychological memories. We can give you a sedative to help keep you calm," I interrupted him on that one. "Sorry doc, but I've been loaded with sedatives for what three or four days now? I think I've had more than my fair share. Ranger will be with me and that will keep me calm." He nodded and then excused himself.

I sank back into my pillows and Ranger leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Sleep," He whispered,

"Ella will be here in a little while with some real food. You want to be energized enough for that. Although you still have to keep to a fairly liquid diet." I gave him a dirty look at that. My favorite foods didn't come in liquid form. But I couldn't argue with him. My eyes were too heavy and I drifted off again.

When I next awoke, it was to the sound of Ranger talking quietly with someone. I knew that voice but it took me some time to place it. Joe. Joe Morrelli, my ex and my still close friend. He took our final breakup hard, but finally seemed to be bouncing back. Word in the burg was he was seeing a new transfer in from Newark. Some skinny blond thing. I opened my eyes and made a small noise. Both men looked towards me and I held a hand out to Joe.

"Hey cupcake, how you feeling?" He asked

"better when they release me from this place and I can recuperate in my own bed. " I Said.

"I heard about what happened and I came to make sure you were alright. I stopped by last night but the wall of black kept me out. Tank told me it was too soon to know anything and to go home till he called me. As soon as I got that call that you were pretty much out of the woods I headed up here. What happened Steph. I thought you were beyond all the craziness with your skips?"

He asked a legitimate question. And I knew as a cop he was taking my official statement as well as being my friend and being supportive.

"Better pull out your tape recorder, Joe, I'm only going over this once." He did as I told him and set it on the table by the bed. Ranger ducked out for a moment and came back with one of his own. He wanted his own copy and didn't want to have to rely on Joe for one. " I was sitting out in front of my skip's mother's house waiting for him to show for his shift taking care of her. I saw what I thought was him walking down the street and climbed out of the car to intercept him before getting to his mother's. Before I had taken three steps, I was ambushed by someone I couldn't even see. He put a cloth over my mouth and stuck me in the neck with something to knock me out. I only remember bits and pieces of when the medications started to ware of. I was sort of awake for the rape and some of the beatings. But when I finally woke up I was in a warehouse. I managed to make my way outside and that's pretty much when ranger found me. I never saw the faces of the men who attacked me. And the drugs distort their voices too much for me to be clear on what they sounded like either." I couldn't be sure but I think I saw what almost looked like relief briefly flash across Joe's face. But I pushed it aside. Probably just glad I was ok, and really didn't remember most of what I had been through.

He switched off the records, handed Ranger his and slipped the other back in his pocket. "I am so sorry that you went through all that Steph. I promise we will find who did this to you and he will know that he messed with the wrong woman. " He gripped my hand when he said that. "I'm just glad you are gonna come through this with no lasting damage."

"That's not quite true, Joe. The doc says they cant give me the morning after pill because of possible hemorrhage and that it had been too long since I was raped. The man didn't use a condom so they got a little DNA from the rape kit, but we don't know yet if its in good enough condition to be usable. And there is also the possibility that I am pregnant. There was a possibility before I was abducted, but this kinda just makes it even more of a possibility. The doctor checked and my hormone levels are already starting to go up. If I am pregnant they can do a test in a couple of months to determine who the father is. If its ranger, or the rapist. Either way I am keeping the baby. And if the man who did this to me is in the system, his DNA can be matched to the amnio and be proved to be a monster. And we will have a way to prove who it is if we manage to catch the jerk responsible for this anyway." When I mentioned the idea of a baby from being raped, Joe went pale. And shortly after he said his goodbyes and left. He was acting a little weird and I said as much to Ranger. "He is just a little shocked and worried. You guys have been friends for a long time, Babe, He almost lost someone very dear to him. Its going to make anyone act a little funny." He reassured me. "Yeah, I know, It made you stick your tongue out at me. Man what I wouldn't do to have had a camera at the moment." "You wont ever catch me on film doing anything less than being menacing, babe, not ever." He said with a mean look that quickly broke into a full on 2000 watt smile. Ella came in just then with something that smelled heavenly, even though it was liquid. She gave me a gentle hug, asked how I was feeling and then went straight to mother hen mode. She pushed ranger to the small table in the room and put a plate full of twigs and rabbit food in front of him and then pulled out a thermos for me. It was stew of sorts and smelled divine. "I know your on a liquid diet for now, but as soon as your cleared for normal food I will make whatever you want, Sweetie, you just have to ask." She patted my cheek and placed my food on a tray in front of me and then left to take care of the bodyguards in the hall. After lunch, I had brief visit with the merry men, but I was overwhelmed with exhaustion again and was asleep halfway through their visit.

*Unknown POV*

Pregnant?! How is that possible? She could possibly be pregnant with my child? I cant let that happen, they cant find out that it was me. She will be out of the hospital before they even do those tests. I will take care of her then and put her where she belongs. Six feet under.

AN: Again I rely on your reviews to help me decide where each chapter is going to go, so review, review review. Love you guys.


	5. Chapter 4

AN: sorry it took so long to update. we are in the process of moving and i had some issues with the order in which i wanted certain things to come up.

disclaimer: characters are not mine just the story line.

SPOV

I woke when there was a light knock on my hospital room door. Ranger stuck his head into the hall and a heard a few words exchanged in Spanish. It was too low to make out, but I knew from the tone that it wasn't good.

Ranger returned to my side, looking grim.

"Babe, we just got word that Chase washed up about an hour ago. A hole in his forehead big enough to see through." His tone was quiet, and he was beyond mad. Chase was our only possible link to what happened to me and who was behind it. "We will figure this out babe. Don't worry." He said soothingly.

I gripped his hand while his other brushed the hair from my face and he kissed my temple.

"I know Carlos, but I really wanted to get him after what he did to his wife. You didn't see her in the hospital. I've never seen someone look so broken. She is on the 5th floor. Someone needs to go tell her. Send Binkie, he visited with her when I went up to see her and talk to her doctors the last time. I think she likes him." I said with a wink. Ranger just flashed me his 2000 watt smile and went to the door. Five minutes later Binkie was briefed and headed to the former Mrs. Chase's room. He took flowers with him, we all knew her reaction to the news of her dead husband would be received…. Well… differently than most widows.

We both sat in silence for a while, processing the news of Chase's murder. It was obvious that I was supposed to die in that warehouse and since Chase didn't make sure it happened, he was killed for his mistakes. And because he probably personally knew my other attacker, the one who rapped me. I knew it hadn't been chase to rape me. The body type was wrong. Chase was compact, and overly bulky with muscle. The man who had his way with me was trimmer, taller, strong, but not overly muscular. It was familiar and yet not. He had made a point to disguise his voice and his face. Leaving me to believe he was someone I knew, possibly a previous skip, or someone linked to Ranger. I looked at Ranger and I knew he was cataloging in his head each of my most recent skips. (I had taken on the more dangerous ones when I had gotten better trained.) And a few of his own. His normal list of enemies wouldn't stoop to rape, they would have just killed me. And all would have left a message for Ranger to find. As there was no message, this attack was all about me. Without a word he got up and went to the door. A quick word and Bobby came in while Ranger stepped out. No doubt off to check on the whereabouts of my skips and their location at the time I was taken.

"How you feeling Boomber?" Bobby asked. Looking me over, no doubt doing his doctor thing. I knew I was still a little pale. But hey, I'd been stuck in a hospital for nearly a week now with no uv rays to add some color to my skin.

"I'm still a bit foggy from the drugs they are steadily giving me. I'd like to be able to stay awake longer than five minutes at a time."

"Steph, you've been through a very traumatic experience. And the medications they have you on that make you foggy, they are to keep you relaxed to keep your blood pressure under control and keep you from injuring yourself by trying to do too much too soon. You are still very sick. Your blood counts are not where they should be. The doctors think there might be some internal bleeding still. Your doctor is going to send you for a full body ct scan and mri to see if they can find it without having to do surgery."

He squeezed my hand and gave me a kiss on my forehead before leaving the room.

Ranger came back in looking refreshed. Apparently Bobby's visit was so that ranger could go shower and shave quickly. He was back mere moments before a nurse came in with an orderly and began to get me ready for more tests. Ranger told me he loved me and he would be waiting and I was whisked out the door.

A few hours later I was back in my room dozing while waiting on the doctor. Ranger was answering emails on his laptop and quietly talking with Lester in the corner. Lester had not spent much time with me since I was found. Lester had become like my brother and I know this had hit him hard. It finally took Ella to knock him out of his funk.

***Earlier that day at Haywood.**

Lester was sitting in the breakroom, staring into a cup of coffee that he poured but hadn't touched. It had long since gone cold and undrinkable. Ella walked in to freshen up the snacks and get lunch ready when she saw Lester.

"Lester." No answer. "Lester!" again no answer. She went over to him and stood across the table from him. "Lester!" She yelled as she slammed her hands down on the table. Lester actually jumped and spilled his now cold cup of coffee in his lap. "Christ woman! What was that for!"

"You weren't listening to me and I had to get your attention. Why are you sitting in here moping?" She asked while helping Lester clean up the table and floor.

"I wasn't moping." He said indignantly, sounding like a small child. "I was thinking."

"You were moping. I've been around the men long enough to know when something is wrong. Now I know I don't have to ask what is wrong, because the whole building has been depressed since the news of what happened to Stephanie. But you are her best friend. You are the one she leans on, turns to when ranger is not available. She calls you first when she needs help. Well Lester, she needs help now and instead of being by her side your are wallowing in self pity. Yes it happened to your friend. But it was not your fault. She didn't call for backup before going to take this man down. Yes she is trained but she also knows to take someone when she doesn't feel comfortable. So young man, are you gonna sit around here and continue to mope or are you going to go down to that hospital and make your friend feel like she isn't alone?"

"Let Tank know I'm headed to the hospital."

***SPOV***

Finally the doctor came in to talk to us. Ranger sat on the edge of the bed and held my hand while the doctor spoke.

"Stephanie, It appears that there is some bleeding in one of your ovaries, which is why your blood count is still low and why we are having a hard time keeping your blood pressure steady. We are going to take you up to surgery in a few minutes to remove it and hopefully stop any other bleeding. Aside from that the rest of your scans look ok. You are still stuck to that bed I am afraid. Your chest is still too swollen from the bruising to tape your ribs yet. So the calmer you are the better." He spoke without stopping, knowing I was going to have a million questions.

"Doctor, what about the possible pregnancy? Will this surgery affect it or my future ability to have kids?

"It is only one ovary, your other one looks perfectly fine. It wont be as easy as someone with two ovaries might have but it wont be impossible. And you can always try invitro as well. But for now lets just get through the next few weeks. "

He left and I had a nurse come in to prep me for surgery.

Ranger held my hand again. "It will be ok babe. Don't worry, we will make it through this just fine. No matter how it goes. We will have some bambinos of our own. I love you, and I will see you when you wake up." With that, he kissed me and left the room to update the crew while I was wheeled back in for another surgery.

AN: I think the next chapter will be about who the baby daddy is. please r&r your thoughts are helping with some decisions


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot, anything you recognize belongs to JE

AN: Sorry for the delay in posting. We are finally all moved, so hopefully I will post a bit faster. As far as some of the medical stuff in this chapter, I did look some of it up, others I had heard of happening and some I may have fudged a little to suite my purposes. Enjoy!

*RPOV*

I was sitting in the waiting room with Tank, Lula, Lester, Hector and Stephanie's father and grandmother. Her mother was wise enough to stay away. We had heard more than once that the only reason she had Stephanie was because her father wanted a boy. He had been disappointed to find out it had been another girl, but that had changed when he saw that Stephanie would be nothing like her mother and sister. I didn't ask Frank about it, but burg rumor was that there were a lot of packing boxes going into the Plum household. I assumed that meant Frank and Edna were moving out. Edna I knew was moving into a Senior's independent housing community. I had paid for her rent there for the next year. And would continue to as long as she wanted. She didn't ask. I had offered. They did regular trips to Atlantic city, there were singles events and much more to keep grandma Mazur entertained. Which made my men sigh a breath of relief, as it meant she wasn't moving into Rangeman anytime soon. Lula and Tank were quietly talking in the corner. They had news to share with Stephanie, but wanted to wait until she was out of the woods. Lula had lost a lot of weight in the last year and had scheduled surgery to remove excess skin from her body, but had cancelled the surgery just a few days before Stephanie's attack.

We sat in the waiting room for several hours, (much longer than we expected to) before the doctor finally came out. I stood and walked to him as Lula and Tank made their way over.

The doctor liked tired, but he had a faint smile on his face. "She did well, there was more bleeding than was expected, but we got it under control fairly quickly. She did require another transfusion while we were in there. But her last blood tests looked good. She did have an ectopic pregnancy which was working its way through her fallopian tube. I will give you more details on that when she wakes up. Her ovary on her left side could not be saved. But her right looks perfect. She didn't have any other internal bleeding and she should recover fine. She is in recovery now, but should be in her room within and hour.

I shook his hand and thanked him and returned to my seat. She was pregnant but it was so small it was in the tube still. Then it belongs to the bastard who raped her. I called a friend at the police station who I knew had no close ties to Morelli and asked him to come down. I knew that in the course of the investigation he could request things I could not. Like the embryo extracted from stephanie's tube.

I went to the nurses station and asked for her to page the doctor again.

When he came out, I relayed my thoughts to him and told him that I had already called the detective.

"I had anticipated this, so we already have the tissue on ice and waiting for your detective to take custody of it. We are treating it as evidence of rape and sexual assault at this point. I will not bring it up this way in front of Stephanie because I know that she would take offense to it." He shook my hand again and took his leave.

An hour later I was taken back to Stephanie's room as she was wheeled back in. She was groggy, but reached for me as soon as she saw me. "How did I do Carlos?" She asked. "You did great Babe. Bu the doctor will come in and tell us more." I kissed her on her forehead and then the doctor came in.

"Stephanie, how are you feeling?" He asked. "Groggy, how did I do?"

"You did good. We managed to stop the bleeding. We removed the ovary that was bleeding. You had a an ectopic pregnancy. An egg that was fertilized in the fallopian tube. It was still very young, so it was probably the result of your rape. However, you do have an embryo in your uterus as well. Which is doing just fine. It is older than the other, leading me to believe that you had a ovulated from each ovary within a couple days of each other. It is rare, but it does happen. Basically what happened is that both ovaries released an egg but a couple of days apart. The first egg was fertilized by Mr. Manoso, and the second, having not reached the uterus yet, was fertilized by the man who attacked you. There was about a weeks difference between fertilization. Meaning that Manoso's egg had not yet implanted, which allowed the other to be fertilized."

"So I was already pregnant with ranger's baby, I got raped, and that guy got me pregnant too? And the second baby was ectopic so you took it out too. So the only one that's left is Ranger's?" She questioned the doctor with a look of confusion on her face. A look I knew was an act. My babe was sharp, I knew she was questioning the doctor to make sure he was telling the truth.

"That's the gist of it, yes."

He spoke with Stephanie for a few more minutes about how long it would take to heal and her limitations. Now that the bleeding was under control and further complications avoided, she was able to be discharged in a few days if nothing else came up.

*SPOV*  
I was essentially pregnant with twins, and due to where the one was located, I had miscarried. That thought hit me like a ton of bricks. I had lost one of my babies because my body couldn't make it go all the way to where it was supposed to . The doctor said my tube had an abnormal kink in it so to speak. That was why that egg never made it to my uterus. Apparently that's a common factor in tubal pregnancies. Would my body let me carry the one still in my womb, or would it fail me twice? I couldn't think about it. My had rested on my stomach, still sore from the operation. The other held on to Carlos for dear life. Tears ran down my face as I prayed to every known deity to save my baby. Carlos' and my baby. The doctor pretty much confirmed that this one was Carlos' and we would make certain of it when we could safely do an amniocentesis.

I ended up crying myself back to sleep. Dreams of faceless babies questioning me why I had let them die. I must have been very agitated in my sleep, I remember slightly waking to the sounds of Ranger soothing me and a nurse coming in to give me more pain medication and something to help me sleep better. My dreams after that were of a child with mocha skin a few shades lighter than ranger's, running around happy and healthy, yelling "I am batman!"

The next few days were a bit of a hazy blur. I was schooled on how to use a wheelchair as my leg sported a cast all the way to my knee. I was not allowed to shower alone under any circumstances. I had piles of medications to take, prenatals, antibiotics, vitamins, baby safe pain relievers. Of course Bobby was there for every detail of my post hospital care. He made a schedule on his tablet just titled "Stephanie". It contained everything from pills to meals, naps, exercise, when Ella could come help take care of personal things. Even a bedtime. Really, I was an adult, I could go to bed when I wanted. But Ranger liked the idea and I couldn't argue with him. He worried too much as it was, and it would be worse if he had to worry about me following doctors orders, which we all know I do ohh so well.

A week after my surgery I was discharged and sent home to recuperate in my, our, own bed. When we pulled into the garage a sea of black engulfed us as I was helped from the suv and into a wheelchair. (Ranger brought up the idea of a motorized wheelchair so that I didn't exhaust myself trying to get around, but had second thoughts when Lester brought up my propensity to have things with motors blow up on me and as I would be sitting in this one an awful lot that wouldn't be good.)I think every rangeman employee who wasn't on duty or in other city was there to see me. I had flowers placed in my lap as I was wheeled to the elevator, pats on my shoulder and even a few kisses on the cheek. I was welcomed back, and had many offers of help if needed. Ranger and Bobby rode the elevator with me to seven and worked on getting me comfortable. I was propped up in bed with pillows to keep me elevated a bit and to keep me from pulling on my stitches and staples. On the hope chest at the foot of the bed sat a gift bag with my name on the tag. I knew instantly it was from Ella, I asked ranger for it and he briefly peaked inside before handing it to me.

There was a note attached. "My dearest Stephanie, please accept these gifts, they will help you prepare for the month to come. And don't ask how I know what colors to buy, I just always know. Call me when you need me. I will be up to help you prepare for bed at 8pm. Love Ella"

Inside the bag were several books. A first time parents guide to pregnancy, for both mom and dad. Which made sense, since ranger missed most of Rachel's pregnancy. There was also the typical what to expect when your expecting and various other maternity books. At the bottom was a small box, I lifted the lid and peeked inside. There was a tiny shirt with a batman emblem on it. The color was as I had expected. There was also a note in the box. "P.S. don't show ranger yet." I closed the box and buried it under the books again.

The trip home had worn me out even though id hardly done anything. Ranger leaned over and kissed my temple before whispering, "Get some sleep, my love, I will be here when you wake." With that, I drifted off again. But my dreams were disturbing and my sleep fitful.

I dreamt of my abduction. Flashes of memories that my subconscious let through. The face of the man came through, fuzzy at first but the gradually became clearer. He wore a ski mask and I could tell he wasn't talking normally, but his eyes were visible. There was something familiar about those eyes… I woke with a scream, calling for Ranger. He came running into the room with Bobby close on his heels.

"I know who raped me!"


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, just the plot.

AN: i just wanted to thank all my readers, you guys have been wonderful, encouraging and your constructive criticism has really helped. I hope this story continues to hold your interest. here is the next chapter. Hopefully it wont be as long of a wait as the last one. ENJOY!

*Unknown POV*

I hung up the phone, and sat in my darkened living room staring at a blank tv screen. She was going to be returning to the hospital in a few days for a follow up. And that is when I will strike, well not me personally, but I had found a member of gang that the bitch had nearly wiped out. He liked my terms and had agreed to shoot Stephanie in a "random drive-by." He would be in a heavily tinted car of and unmemorable make and model and it would have fake plates. He said he could get his own driver, and his own gun. Id taken him out to a firing range and I knew he was a good shot, even with a moving target. I just had to let him know when and where, details I wouldn't give him until last minute. I contemplated life without the "bombshell bounty hunter" and was happy with that fantasy. So many lives would improve when she was no longer breathing, even if it meant that I was killing my own unborn child. Oh well, I didn't want my child to be related to THAT family by any means, they were all nuts, and I had plans to get rid of them too.. Starting with that annoying grandmother of hers. How she was never arrested for groping men is beyond me. I smiled to myself as I realized my thoughts had given me wood so I picked my phone back up called the one person I knew would help me with my current state and not ask questions. "I need you now, and discretion is important, so park a block away and come down the alley." I disconnected without waiting for an answer. Just over an hour later I was laying in my bed naked, satisfied and ready to be alone. "You can go now, back the way you came and lock the back door. Ohh and leave the wig, on the table. You wont be needing it anymore. She is no longer my fantasy."

She nodded." Does that mean we can be public now?"

I had to laugh. I laughed so hard it hurt.

"Barnyard," I said. "You and I will never be public. You were a way to scratch an itch while I needed it. But that particular itch no longer bothers me, or wont in just a few days. Now get out of my house."

She scurried out of the room and a few moments later I heard the backdoor slam. I drifted off to sleep and dreamt of a funeral I would be helping to plan.

*RPOV*

I had been sitting in the living room with Bobby planning out the next few weeks. Rotations of who would stay with Steph throughout the day. Ella would be on call during the day to help with personal matters, but there would be a rangeman on seven, twenty-four hours a day. Between her last surgery and the broken bones, Stephanie was pretty much immobile. Bobby had wanted her to use a bedside toilet so that she wouldn't have to be moved much, but Stephanie would have none of it. We had pretty much ironed out a schedule, when we heard a bloodcurdling scream. I vaulted over the couch and ran into the room. Stephanie was sitting up in the bed, a look of pure horror on her face.

"I know who raped me." She said in a voice that left no room for doubt.

*SPOV*

Ranger came to sit next to me while Bobby went back into the living room for his medical bag.

"Ranger, I dreamt of his eyes. I knew those eyes. I've looked into those eyes nearly my whole life. Carlos, It was Joe. Joe raped me. I don't think he was the one who hit me, but I know, I know with everything that I am that it was Joe."

"Are you absolutely sure babe?"

He stroked my face and kissed my cheek as Bobby came back in.

"One hundred and fifty percent sure, Ranger. It was Joe, I have no doubt."

Just then Ranger's phone chirped. He looked at the readout.

"Bobby, please make sure she didn't pull any stitches. I have a phone call to make."

He nodded and then ranger left the room.

"You scared us bomber, I haven't heard a scream like that since I was deployed. It made my blood run cold." He gently pushed me backwards on the bed and pulled the blanket down. I didn't respond to his comment and I knew that apologizing would only get me yelled at. He lifted the tshirt I was wearing and gently probed my stomach. I was lucky to have not pulled an stitches. He helped me sit up against some pillows and was smoothing the blanket over my legs when Ranger came back in.

"That was my contact down at TPD. He said the dna results are in. The DNA was on file. Steph, it came back to Joe. He hasn't called it in yet. He is giving me one hour before he alerts his boss."

I sunk back into my pillows. I had known it, but I had hoped it wasn't true. My mind battled between shock, horror and pure sorrow that the man I had loved since I was six. Who I had very nearly married and gotten killed more than once. I suddenly felt sick. Bobby knew it was coming and had a trashcan under my chin within seconds. I heaved everything I had managed to eat that morning and then some. When I was finally done emptying my stomach, I leaned back. Ranger was sitting next to me placing a cool cloth on my forehead while wiping my mouth with another washcloth. Bobby disappeared into the bathroom and came back with some mouthwash and water. He handed me the mouthwash and I quickly rinsed my mouth and spit into the can before he handed me the water and took the trashcan into the living room. He brought back a fresh can and some little blue bags. I had seen them in the hospital and knew they were for emergency vomit episodes. He placed it next to me within easy reach.

"Bobby," Ranger said. "Please wait for me in the living room. Do not make any phone calls or send any text messages. I will be out in a moment and then we will deal with this." His tone left no room for argument. Bobby nodded, gave me a peck on the cheek and left the room.

Ranger was stroking my hair. "Babe, he gave me an hour. I need to to do this. I need to show that monster what he did to you. I will not kill him, I promise. He will not be so injured that he cannot stand trial. Because I want you to testify to what he did. There is DNA evidence which can stand by itself, but your testimony will seal the deal. Will you let me do this?" He pleaded with me, I could feel the tension in his body. I knew he was ready to run out the door and wrap his hands around Joe's neck and not let go.

I knew he needed to do this. Hell, I needed to do it, but my current condition made that impossible.

I placed my hand on Ranger's cheek. "Yes Ranger, but I have one stipulation, well two." He gave me a blank look but let me continue. "You take tank and bobby with you and you send Lester and Hector up here. Do not tell Lester and Hector what is going on or there will be a murder to deal with. Once he is in police custody, then you can tell them. Tank will keep you from going too far and Bobby can patch him up enough to go to jail. Word does not get out until he is behind bars." He nodded. "I understand where your coming from babe. We know that telling Lester and Hector would be signing Morellie's death warrant. But we all know people inside. Don't expect him to last long." He kissed me and I lay back down. Ranger went into the living room and called Lester and Hector up.

*RPOV*

I left Stephanie in the bedroom. The call had been about the DNA results and when I told my Babe, she was very calm and sure about how things should be handled. I completely agreed with her and called to have Santos and Hector come up. We all sat around the table while I explained that Bobby and I had to leave haywood for a while and I was taking tank with me as my backup. When we had asked Stephanie who she wanted here while we were gone she had requested them. Hector was teaching her Spanish and Lester could keep her entertained. Both men looked slightly distrustful of my words but neither questioned. They knew that I was essentially giving them an order and neither would go against that. They would find out the details when we got back. Bobby and I left them on seven and headed downstairs. We stopped and grabbed Tank and headed for the garage. It wasn't until we were off Rangeman property that I explained to Tank what we were doing. His fist shot out and connected with the dash, leaving a sizable dent and crack in the plastic. "Save it for the dirt bag, Tank." I said. He nodded but kept quiet. No doubt thinking of what we were going to do over the next hour. We pulled up a couple of houses down from Joe's and killed the engine. There were no lights on in Joe's house and his car was in the driveway. He must be asleep. We crept up to the house and quietly went around to the back door. We had encouraged him repeatedly to let rangeman install a security system but he was a cop and anyone would be stupid to try to break into his place. Well now it worked to our advantage as we easily picked the lock and silently made our way inside.

We moved like smoke up the stairs and into morellie's bedroom. He lay asleep on his back, stark naked. Bobby had a syringe ready to administer a sedative to keep the bastard from making any noise. Tank had a cloth to hold over his mouth and we all moved at once. I wanted Joe to wake up and see us and know why we were there.

I clapped my hands loudly, he started and tried to sit up, tank swiftly put the cloth over joe's mouth and bobby descended on him with a needle. Shortly after that Joe passed out and we began to bundle him out to the car and off to a nearby warehouse that we knew would be abandoned and no one would hear what went on.

AN:I havent decided how graphic the next chapter will be. Obvously it will be about what happens to joe in the warehouse, but I am hesitant to actually write out the "physical justice" or if i should just sort of gloss over it. I will base my decision on reviews. So please R&R! Thanks. it keeps me going.


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Characters belong to JE, i just own the plot.

AN: Here is the warehouse. It is somewhat graphic, but if you want to avoid that part skip down to nearly the bottom.

*RPOV*

We pulled up in front of the warehouse and Tank drug the cop from the SUV and into the building. Inside there was a single chair. It was a personal creation of Cal's. The man had a way with wood. He could have been a craftsman in another life. The chair was made with very solid, two inch thick wood beams. It was bolted to the floor and there were iron leg shackles on the two front legs. The arms had extensions on them so that hands could be laid flat, there were straps for the wrists and another that went across the hands just below the fingers. A large leather strap would go across the chest, under the armpits. It was positioned so that it covered the heart as a reminder that that spot was to escape blows. There was a slightly padded piece that came up for the head. It was meant to keep the head from snapping back and breaking the neck. This chair was an interrogators wet dream. It even had a hole in the seat in case the prisoner messed themselves so it wouldn't ruin the wood. The floor around the chair was all grate leading to the sewer, made cleanup a lot easier. In the corner of the room was a large metal cabinet with about a dozen locks on it. Inside were tools that would be used to teach the cop a lesson.

I turned to watch as Tank led him into the room towards the chair. He was starting to come around and notice his surroundings. He paled and tried to get away, but Tank had an iron grip on his arms and he was cuffed behind his back and shackled. I pulled my fist back and launched it at the maggot's nose. A sickening crunch could be heard as his nose broke and began to gush blood. My hand wouldn't even have a bruise tomorrow. He sputtered and couched, trying to clear the blood from his mouth so he could breathe. He looked up at me through watery eyes.

"How did you know?" He asked, the fear evident in his voice.

I looked at him for a long time. He really did have distinctive eyes. And the paper thin scar through his eyebrow would have been a dead giveaway.

"You really should think about a full mask that covers your eyes the next time you kidnap and rape someone who might make it out alive. She remembered your eyes dumbass. You don't think that after 20 some years that she wouldn't remember every detail of your face. God forbid all the hours in bed with you on top of her, that she wouldn't remember what that felt like." I spat at him. My control quickly slipping away. Tank shoved him into the chair and quickly began strapping him in.

"Oh, and Morellie, I'd watch who you insult in your bed too. Right after Stephanie remembered you I got a couple of calls. One was from a woman who decided that being used and abused by you was less than fun for her. She told me about your comment concerning a problem that would be going away soon. And the second call, well lets just say I have a few friends at TPD you don't know about. You got Stephanie pregnant when you violated her, but it got stuck in her tube. She had to have surgery to remove it and her ovary. Do you know what that means?" I asked as I slammed my fist into his gut. He let out a woosh of air. After he recovered from that, he shook his head.

"It means two things you bastard. The first being that it will be harder for Stephanie to become pregnant in the future. Only having one ovary and one tube. But it also means that there was tissue recovered from her body that had someone else's DNA besides her own. " His eyes went wide at this. Realization and understanding settling in. He knew that when he was accused of murder during Stephanie's early career as a bounty hunter; (A charge she helped clear him of. The ungrateful bastard.)He knew that his DNA was still on file from that incident. "They ran that tissue sample for a second set of DNA and guess who came up as a match?" I didn't have to answer the question for him. He looked sick and turned his face away from me. I punched him in the jaw. "Look at me when I talk to you, maggot." I turned to Bobby and nodded at the cabinet. It was time to bring out the toys.

Joe was naked when we picked him up and we didn't bother to put any clothes on him. I then motioned to Tank who started turning something next to the chair. "Joe, there is another special feature of this chair that we haven't told you about yet. You see, when I heard about what all had been done to Stephanie, I had Cal make some improvements on his masterpiece here. It now tilts forward. There is a second set of front legs to support the chair when it leans forward." As I said this the chair began to lean forward and the extra legs snapped into place. When it came to a stop Joe's upper body was almost parallel to the floor. He was whimpering and begging us to stop, to let him go. Not happening. I thought.

Bobby came over wheeling a tray. On it was some interesting tools. Some were ment to do damage to his fingers. There were some clamps that would be great on his "boys". But the item that I liked the most in this case was a modified dildo. It was huge and covered with tiny metal spikes.

I picked it up and walked around to where Morelli could see me. I hunkerd down and showed him what was in my hand. "Did you know, Joe, that Stephanie required stitches inside and out of her anus, from what you and your flunky did to her?" He struggled against the straps, trying to escape what he knew was coming. "Did you know she has chipped teeth from being smacked around and sodomized?" I hit him in the face with the dildo, leaving scatches along his jawline. "Did you know that when she has our child she will have to have a c-section because her vagina is so damaged it probably wont stretch as it should to accommodate a baby?" He was shaking in fear and had pissed himself. I looked at him in disgust and handed the dildo back to Bobby. "Bobby and Tank here are going to see that you experience everything that Stephanie went through. Ohh and if you scream it wont matter because this warehouse has been soundproofed." I Turned and gave each man a nod and walked out. The screams starting before I had even shut the door all the way. A second rangeman suv was waiting for me with Binkie behind the wheel. He didn't know who was in the warehouse, and wouldn't until after he had been turned over. We weren't worried about the state he would be in when we handed him over to TPD, no judge in the state of New Jersey would convict us of any wrongdoing once it came out what he had done, and a cop no less. I turned to Binkie, "Back to rangeman, back to Steph, please." He nodded and pulled away.

When I got back to seven, Stephanie was asleep and my men were sitting at the table with a bunch of papers and computers surrounding them. It looked like they were going over the evidene TPD had sent over as well as everything we had, trying to find the bastard behind the attack on Stephanie. I reached over and closed both of their laptops. "It is no use looking over that all tonight when you are beyond tired. The couch pulls out, go get some sleep. I want both of you here in the morning when I talk to Stephanie." They both nodded and headed to the living room while I went to get extra linens from the closet. They had the bed set up in moments and I went and crawled into bed with my love, careful not jostle her too much.

*BPOV*

It took me nearly two hours to put morelli back together after Tank and I finished with him. He had a broken nose, both hands were broken. He was bleeding, although not heavily, from his asshole. His face was swollen from probably fractured cheek bones, and I knew he had several cracked ribs. I had a toy I had not shown Ranger, it was for piercing. Morelli now sported what is called in some circles a Jacobs Ladder. Its piercings all the way down his penis. And I made sure they HURT. We also had the clamps on his balls pretty much the entire time. When I was done we loaded him up and took him down to the police station, meeting Ranger's contact at the back door. When we pulled up he was standing there with several of some of Stephanie's closest friends on the force. Including her cousin by marriage, Eddie Gazarra, who looked ready to murder his co-worker.

It didn't take long for the news to spread about the positive DNA results, and everyone know that they only way that would have happened is if Joe had taken her by force. She had had a very public breakup with Joe when she caught him cheating with Joyce Barnyard. She had taken a few months to herself before Ranger had convinced her to go on a real date with him and the rest was history. He had been planning to propose to her the weekend she disappeared, but that was put on hold for now. He didn't want her to feel as if he was doing it just because of the baby.

We hauled morelli out of the SUV and dropped him in front of his former coulleages. The detectives had already been in touch with a judge and a warrant had been issued for Morelli's arrest. I told them he didn't have any injuries that required immediate medical attention and he could sit in a cell overnight. I knew that he would be taken to a special cell for the night that did not have any cameras in it. It wasn't a well known cell, but it was for those special cases, usually for those involved in hurting Bomber. Tank and I loaded back into the car and pointed it toward Haywood. We would crash on four and Lester's apartment and then meet with everyone in the morning. Eddie would be by bright and early to get Stephanie's statement, and I would be needed to knock Lester and Hector out until their blinding rage had subsided.

*SPOV*

I heard Carlos come home and speak quietly with Lester and Hector. I knew he was telling them to spend the night. He came into our room and washed up in the bathroom before crawling in beside me. I truly felt safe for the first time in weeks. Three of the most important men in my life were safe in the apartment with me, and I knew the other two were tying up loose ends. I inhaled the scent of Bvlgari and drifted off to sleep. A sleep uninterrupted by dreams, memories, or nightmares.

AN:Thanks for the reviews and hopefully I will have a beta set up soon so you dont have to worry about my horrible writing skills.


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Its JE's world, Im just playing in it

AN: here is the Joe POV everyone has been asking for, enjoy

*JPOV*

Several hours later Joe sat in a cell, after having a "conversation" with several of TPD's finest, he was taken to the hospital. He was guarded the entire time and the doctors who had patched him up were made aware of the situation and in general did not ask Joe any questions other than where and how much it hurt. He was given minimal pain medication and both his hands had been casted. He was then sent back to the station to sit in a cell and wait until the judge wanted to talk to him. The cell he was in was barely lit but a naked bulb hanging from the ceiling a few feet from his cell door. There was not even a bed, just a thin mattress on the floor and a toilet. He was left to his own thoughts. A guard sat at a table watching the hockey game with headphones on. As he sat on the floor, propped against the wall his mind wandered to about 9 months ago.

He had been enjoying himself with Joyce on the kitchen counter. Not worried about Stephanie coming home, she was working with Ranger on a capture in Newark and wasn't expected home until tonight. He had Joyce's leg on his shoulders and was doing things he'd never done with Stephanie when he thought he heard the click of a door opening. He stilled for a moment but heard only their ragged breathing, he went back to what he was doing when he heard a gasp. He turned his head to look at what caused the noise and was shocked to see his mother, Grandma Bella, Stephanie, his cousin Mooch and several other people in the doorway. They held party bags and Bella was carrying a cake. Shit it was his birthday and they had planned a surprise party. Stephanie stood their with her mouth open and tears running down her face. "Cupcake let me exp-" But he was cutoff by the cake ending up in his face. Grandma Bella did the one thing she never did… wasted food. She had shoved the cake in Joe's face and turned to Stephanie. "Come child." She said in her heavy Italian accent. "He is not worth your tears, lets leave him with his whore. We will take you home." She began to lead her away. "I will come back later with your friend Mary Lou and get whatever belongings you have in this house." Mooch walked over and sucker punched me and gave Joyce, who had managed to rearrange her clothing at this point, a nasty look. But it was the look my mother gave me that had the most meaning. She had such a look of disappointment in her eyes. She walked over, slapped me and left. It was at that moment that I knew my whole life went down the toilet.  
A few days after that incident it was all over Trenton, Joe Morelli had been caught hiding the salami with his fiance's archenemy. And he had been caught by nearly his whole family and some of their closest friends. Women refused to look at him, his friends wouldn't answer his phone calls. His mother slammed her door in his face. What was worse was he got the worst cases at the precinct. The smelliest, the ones that would be the hardest to solve. He was called for every person who had died alone in their houses and had been there for days or weeks, sometimes longer. Wither it was a homicide or not, he got the call. He knew that his superiors were punishing him for his actions. For bringing shame onto the precinct. But it was a couple of weeks later that it really began to become clear how bad his life had been messed up.

He had gotten noticed that he was removed from every Morelli will. He was being disowned by his family and it was all her fault. She lied about having to work with Ranger that day and it had been her idea to do a surprise party. She was the reason his family found out about his extra-curricular activities. She was why they disowned him, why he was shunned by nearly everyone. And that was when he came across a slayer while he was doing a patrol (he had been forced to cover when one of the beat cops had called in sick and "no one was available" to cover it.) He had pulled him over on a minor traffic violation and when he went to the window the air was heavy with the smell of pot. He looked at the young man, formulating a plan. He made the dealer an offer he couldn't refuse. Help Joe off the one person the slayers held responsible for the devastation of nearly half their gang a few years back and he would avoid a large drug charge and he would look the other way whenever he came across a case involving the slayers. Joe told him he would be in touch for the right time to deal with her.

It took months for him to actually find her alone. He knew she was working on the Chase case. He had talked to Chase and promised he would get the charges dropped if he would go FTA and help him kidnap Stephanie. He knew that she would sit on his mother's house alone. And knew that would be the best time to take her. It really was easy to get a hold of an injectable sedative. And even easier to grab her when she was getting out of her car. She never had time to react, to put into action the training he knew she had received. Once she was out he put her into the car he had borrowed and drove around the corner to pick up Chase.

He went to an old abandoned house just outside of the city that he knew no one would come looking for her in. It had never been associated with any case she had worked on. She was starting to come around when they pulled up and he gave her another dose, knocking her back out. He carried her into the house and Chase began to lock her to the bed. They used cuff and leg shackles, and a wide belt to keep her middle restrained as well. Once she was secured he began to cut her clothes off, discarding them in a heap on the floor. He left with instruction for Chase to do whatever he wanted, with the excpetion of raping her or killing her. The next night he came back to find her bloodied and bruised and ready for him. He let the sedative begin to ware-off as he wanted her responsive when he took her one last time. He pulled a ski mask over his head so she wouldn't recognize him, not that it mattered anyway she would be dead before the weekend was over. But he didn't want that look of recognition and disgust on her face when he was trying to screw her. She was coming around, struggling against her bonds when he climbed on top of her and set to work. He had a hard-on all day thinking about what he would do to her tonight. He would do everything she had told him no on. Including the butt stuff. When he was finally spent, he left her even more bloody and brusied then when he had arrived. When he walked into the living room he said one thing to Chase. "finish her and dispose of the body." He returned home and called Joyce. Even though she had been there for his downfall, he still relied on her to play into his fantasies. He could call her whatever he wanted, and would dress and act like her too. And tonight he needed her to be a willing partner after having her struggle against him all night.

He undressed and waited in bed for her to show up. When she did she was wearing a brown curlyhaired wig and nothing else. "Hello Handsome." She said as she sauntered into the room. "Hello Stephanie, I've been waiting…"

AN: As always please R&R, its what keeps me going.


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN:This is a short one, I just wanted everyone to know how Lester and Hector took the news.

*SPOV*

The next morning it was evident that telling Lester and Hector about Joe after he was already in jail was a good idea. Carlos had carried me into the living room and I layed on the pull-out that Lester and Hector had slept on and had my breakfast while we waited for Bobby and Tank to join us. They arrived as I was finishing my scrambled eggs. (I was still on a soft diet because of the bruising my jaw had taken and my ribs.) Carlos had Lester sit next to me, knowing that he would keep himself from jumping up and out the door if he knew that it would jostle and possibly hurt me if he did. Hector was in an arm chair with Bobby and Tank flanking him. Carlos stood in the doorway to the hall and had stunguns just out of sight on either side of him just in case.

"Stephanie remembered who attacked her yesterday evening." Carlos said quietly. Both men were suddenly on alert, without even moving a muscle their whole demeanors had changed. They were ready for the fight, they were just waiting on the greenlight. "Before either of you go off half-cocked, know that he has already been visited by Bobby and Tank and he is also already in police custody." Both men had slightly confused looks on their faces for a moment before the blank face slid back into place.

Lester turns to look at me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Who was it, Beautiful?" he asked quietly.

"I will.." I tell him. "As soon as you move your hand to something less likely to be crushed when you fin out." He blushed for a moment. "Sorry Steph." "Its ok Lester, I just didn't want my good shoulder broken accidently." I squeeze his hand before he moves it away and take a deep breath. "It was Joseph Morelli."

Both men look shocked.. actually shocked for a moment and then Hector's hands flew to his knives. Lester gently removed himself from my side before surging towards the door. But Carlos was ready for him. Just as Lester was trying to muscle his way past in his blind rage, Carlos gave him a few volts. It was on the low setting so it wouldn't knock him out but it was enough to put him on his knees. "What the F-?" He was silenced with a look from Ranger. A hand on each shoulder had kept Hector in his chair, but just barely. He was sitting there playing with his favorite knife. He had only used it one person that I knew of, and that was someone who had gone after his sister a few years back, so it was little used as the intricate design on the grip made it difficult to clean. Carlos turned to Hector "Do I need to use this on you too?" He asked. Hector shook his head, too angry to speak. But I knew he was thinking about what contacts he had in what prisons that would finish off the bastard, if he even made it that far. If Lester had his way, he wouldn't. But Joe's transport couldn't be hijacked before making it to prison because it would come back on me and Rangeman, and that wouldn't look good for business.

Ranger helped Lester back to the couch, he was still a little jelly legged from the electricity that had shot through his body a few minutes ago, but he was recovering quickly.

Ranger began to speak again. "Morelli arranged for Steph to be kidnapped and helped with her takedown. She was transported to some unknown location. We couldn't track her because, Morelli, knowing how we do things around her, knew she would have trackers on her and he would never find them all. Instead of trying to get rid of them, he came across a device that could scramble their signal. When she was dumped in that warehouse, her purse and everything she had on her was thrown into a nearby dumpster and the scrambler was taken with them. That's why her signal suddenly became clear. He did very little of the actual beating, that was left to Owen Chase, her skip, who Morelli paid a good sum of money to help him. Morelli was the only one that raped her an violated her. He was also violated in similar ways. And according to Tank, had to be dragged from the truck and dropped at the feet of his colleagues. Well former, at any rate. A judge is seeing him this morning. Stephanie had an ectopic pregnancy, an egg that had been fertilized by the jerk's spunk. She had surgery to remove the blocked tube and the ovary on that side. She was already pregnant when she had been abducted and thankfully they did not have to remove that one. So long story short, Steph and I are going to have a baby."

I gave Ranger a small smile. Following up the news about Joe with the fact that we were going to have a baby was an excellent idea. Lester instantly turned from chomping at the bit to kill Morelli to "Uncle Lester".. scratch that "Uncle Les." Yup that sounds better. Hector also visibly relaxed and put away his knives.

"Yup guys," I said. "There's a mini batman inside me." This had everyone cracking a smile and the tension vanished from the room. I knew it wasn't over yet, they would just continue the conversations without me in the room, and I knew that Hector would have Joe taken care of in whatever prison he ends up in. Shortly after revealing all the news to the guys, I began yawning. Ranger, with his ESP, stopped talking and came over to me. "Nap time" he said. Lifting me like I weighed nothing, even with a cast on my leg, he carried me back to the bedroom with Bobby hot on his heels. He took me into the bathroom and helped me freshen up a little and use the facilities. Once I finished he gently placed me in the bed and Bobby checked me over, making sure that I hadn't aggravated any of my injuries. He took my blood pressure, knowing I might lie about my pain level, but my blood pressure wouldn't. He seemed happy with it and began to pack his gear back into his medical bag. He kissed my forehead, said if we needed anything, to call and he left. Ranger made sure I was comfortable, he even took off his shirt and wrapped it around his pillow so that I could snuggle it. He walked into the dressing room and came out pulling a clean shirt over his head. He kissed me, and layed a gentle had on my stomach. "Love you, babe." He said, giving me another kiss. "Love you,Carlos" I said with another yawn. He kissed my forehead. "Sleep, ill just be in the living room." He kissed me again and then left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. It took me just moments to fall asleep, wrapped

AN:Please R&R


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

AN: Here is Lester's POV, I didn't do Hector's because I really don't feel as though I can get into his head and do him justice. Hector will not be completely silent in all this but don't expect his silent thoughts to come out. The man is a mystery in the books and I plan to keep it that way.

*LPOV*

Hector and I arrived on Seven, knowing we would find out who had been responsible for Beautiful being abducted and raped. I had my hunch, but was waiting for it to be confirmed. Ranger directed Hector into his favorite armchair, when I saw Tank and Bobby flank him, I knew it was going to get ugly. He had me sit next to Steph and I gently placed my hand on her shoulder. "Who was it, Beautiful?" I asked quietly.

"I will.." She said. "As soon as you move your hand to something less likely to be crushed when you find out." I blushed for a moment, shit this was going to be really bad. "Sorry Steph." "It's ok Lester, I just didn't want my good shoulder broken accidently." She squeezed my hand before I moved it away and she takes a deep breath. "It was Joseph Morelli."

I saw red and immediately headed for the door. I had no other thoughts in my head except the most painful way for that bastard to die. I reached Ranger and then I saw stars and hit me knees. I almost blacked out.

"What the F-?" Ranger shot me a look that cut me off at the pass and I knew that I wasn't going anywhere. Not that my legs would even carry me to the bathroom at the moment. Thankfully Ranger used a low voltage and I hadn't lost my faculties. Ranger helped me stand and walked me back over to the couch on rubber legs. Hector was playing with his favorite knife, Ranger looked at him and asked if he needed to use the stun gun on him too. Hector angrily shook his head but did not put his knife away yet.

Ranger took the lead and explained to us that the pig had gotten steph pregnant, however due to an abnormality in her tube, the egg never made it to its destination and got stuck. So she had surgery to remove it and the ovary that had been damaged by her beatings. He explained Chase's roll and the reason her trackers weren't working. And then he dropped the bombshell on us, figuratively speaking. Beautiful was pregnant and had been before being kidnapped. And she confirmed that it was a mini batman and not a mini pig. The news had the desired effect, outwardly anyway. Hector put away his knives and the four of us trooped back down to five to think about what we had learned. Hector and I were under strict orders to not leave the building and all our calls would be monitored. Tank even confiscated our cellphones. The guys on monitor duty were ordered to keep an eye on all exits and to immediately put the building on lockdown if either man tried to leave. However the gym was fully available to us. Hector and I both decided that some physical activity would help calm our nerves. I would have been shit on the floor and he would not have been able to be his vigilant self down in the bowels of the building where the tech office was housed. We went to the locker room to change and then entered the gym. We were the only ones there and I signaled to the guys on monitors to lock the doors. Neither of us would leave until every sparing dummy met a "bloody" end that should be delivered to Morelli.

*SPOV*

I woke some time later to Ranger curled around me, one hand gently resting on my stomach and the other lightly brushing the hair from my face. I slowly turned to be able to give him a kiss when the beast within made itself known. He let out a chuckle an headed to the kitchen. He came back about ten minutes later with a protein shake and a peanut butter and olive sandwich, does my man know me or what? He placed the plate onto a tray and helped me sit up before placing the tray on my lap.

"I need to go down and check on things for a little while, babe" He said. "Will you be ok up here alone for a little while?" He asked. Watching me devour the sandwich. The corner of his lip twitched, but he knew better than to laugh at me when I ate. "Yes Ranger, I will be fine. Just set up the DVD player with a few movies and give me the remote and I will be set." I said before working on my shake. It wasn't half bad, but I appreciated how easy it was to drink. Even though the sandwich was good, it was a bit tough to chew with my bruised jaw. He nodded. "Ella will be up in an hour to help you get cleaned up." He said before planting a kiss on my forehead and heading out the door. I moved the tray to the bedside table, clicked on the tv and relaxed into my pillows. Ghostbusters one and two were on the schedule but I mixed in a few of my other favorites, Ms. Doubtfire, Hook and Patch Adams. I needed some comedy to lift me back up and keep me out of the darkness that threatened to pull me back down.

_(A.N. I added the Robin Williams movies to her playlist after learning of the remarkable man's death today. I chose to honor him by adding some of my favorites.) _

I was dozing slightly when I heard Ella come in, Bobby close behind. He checked my bandages, wrapped my cast and decided that my head was healed enough to remove the bandages and allow me to wash my hair. He produced a shower chair to put into the huge tub and helped Ella carry me into the bathroom. He left while she helped me undress and to sit in the tub. The chair was perfect, It could recline slightly allowing me to rest my head back. I had no problems with Ella seeing me naked. She was like a mother to me, more than my own had ever been. She gently scrubbed my hair and helped me wash my legs since bending over still hurt like a mother. I washed the rest. When we were done with the washing she helped me shrug into a robe and brought me what I needed to brush my teeth while she worked on my hair. The woman had magic hands, she managed to tame the rats-nest with just a brush and some well placed clips. (My sensitive scalp couldn't tolerate any kind of updo). Once I had finished with my teeth and sufficiently covered, she called Bobby back in and he carried me back to the bed. Removed my protective bag and made sure I had fresh bandages where needed. He left while Ella helped me dress than came back to settle me in bed and take my vitals.

"Bomber, you gave us the scare of a lifetime." He said quietly. "I don't know that any of us would have survived had something worse happened to you." His voice wavered a bit but he managed to get himself back in control. "You have little Rangedude there to think about now," gesturing to my stomach. "It's time to remove yourself from field duty. Possibly permanently." I bristled at the idea of being stuck on desk duty permanently, but relaxed when I thought of the little bassinet in the corner of my office. The image of a little green-eyed, creamy mocha colored skinned little boy running between the control room and the offices, laughing as he was chased by his "uncles." I turned my burg glare on Bobby and then smiled. "Of course I can do that, " I said. And he visibly relaxed. "I will leave all the dirty, rolling in garbage, getting shot at, work to the boys. This momma is officially on desk duty for the foreseeable future." "Hey we don't roll in garbage." He exclaimed. "Ha," I said. "What about Hal and Mr. Bidermier last month?" "To be fair Steph, he was your skip and Hal was just trying to help you cuff the old man when the geezer manged to sweep Hal's legs by accident. He was just collateral damage to your game not Rangeman." He laughed again at my dirty look, leaned down and gave me a hug and kiss and left the room. Ella brought me some homemade miso soup and took my earlier dishes into the kitchen. She came back shortly and fluffed my pillows a little. "Do you need anything else, mijha?" "No Grand-Ella, I will be fine. " She started at the and then broke into a huge smile. "Grand-Ella, I think I like that." She smiled at me again, made sure I was comfortable and left the room as well. Just like that I was alone again with my thoughts.

Did I really just agree to near permanent desk duty? I asked myself. Yes, Yes I did. And the shocking thing is that it really didn't bother me. My life had changed nearly overnight. I wasn't ready to trade in my handcuffs, (I could use them on Ranger) But I was ready to start decorating the new office that I knew I would have as soon as I was ready. With thoughts of the remodeling that the apartment on seven would need and the changes in the control room dancing through my head, I drifted off to sleep again.

A.N. Ok so the story is going to begin to jump ahead a little so this is where I need some help. I have decided that the batbaby is going to be a boy, I mean how could I not. Ranger already has Julie, now he needs a boy to pass on his legacy. But I need a name for the batbaby cause we cant call him that forever. Message me your ideas and I will take my top five favorites and allow everyone to vote. Thanks guys for giving me the desire to keep this going with your wonderful reviews. Keep it up. Love you guys.


	12. Aunthors Note II

Sorry I havent updated in a while. I've had some health issues to tend to, but I am doing better and I promise to have the next chapter up in the next few days.


	13. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I Own nothing but the plot.

AN: Sorry it took so long to update, but I am feeling much better and hope to get back on track with regular updates. This chapter is mostly filler, to kind of explain what happened with joe in court. I chose to skip and testimony that went into detail on his actions. I covered most in earlier chapters and didnt feel the need to revisit those horrible moments in Stephanie's ordeal.

Joe had spent about three days in jail awaiting his "trial" before the first attack on him and it had nothing to do with Rangeman. It appeared that one my skips had gotten word of what Joe had done. He was one of my regulars and had gotten to the point where I would pull up to his house and honk and he would lock up and climb into my car. We would always get lunch and then I'd drop him off at the station. He was older and I think he only broke the law so he could sit in jail with people to talk to and play checkers with. He most recent charge was petty theft, stealing from the collection plate to pay for his medications. What very few were aware of was his mob connections. Vito Grizzoli found out what Joe did and one of his goons managed to get Joe off camera and rough him up. Joe spent about two weeks on the hospitals jail ward after that. No one was really sure if my skip had leaked the true story to a connection or if Connie had told her "family." I'm sure it was a bit of both.

It took about a month before Joe went in front of the judge. He tried to deny everything but the DNA didn't lie and for once neither did Joyce. Joyce was a key witness in fact for the prosecution. She laid a lot of stuff on the table about Joe's obsession with me, including a shrine in his second bedroom. When I heard that I felt very sick, Ranger, who was sitting with me in court took one look at my face and hauled me out of the courtroom and to the nearest trashcan. I emptied my stomach and cried while Ranger held me. Bobby had followed us out of the courtroom and was now checking to make sure I was ok. We had also been followed by a bailiff, who quickly returned to the courtroom to relay the circumstances to the judge regarding the disruption. Needless to say, it was one more nail in Joe's coffin.

My mother signed a statement about her involvement in Joe's plans and agreed to have it used as evidence. Her cooperation earned her a two year sentence, five years of probation and a lifelong restraining order to keep her away from me and any and all of my children. Her testimony against Joe pretty much sealed his fate. He got twenty five years with a chance of parole in fifteen. He wouldn't make it to the end of his first year. Not even spending his prison career in protective custody would save him. He was a cop who tried to kill the Bombshell Bounty Hunter. He would have to watch out for the inmates and the guards. When the judge finalized his sentence, Joe went even more pale than the papers in front of him. He knew his life was forfeit. Joe Morelli would never become a "family man." And he would never again hurt a woman. I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, no longer would I have to worry about Joe getting me alone in the deli, or running into him at pino's. And what stuck the heart of the burg was Mamma Morelli and Grandma Bella. Neither cried when Joe was led away in shackles, instead they both turned to me and hugged me. "You will always have family in us, Stephanie." Mrs. Morelli said. "Joe is no longer part of that family and we will forever be paying his debt to you." "You have no debt to me, Joe's actions were his own. Maybe now he will get the help he needs." What mamma Morelli said next nearly buckled my knees in shock. "You and I both know Joe wont last long in prison and I for one hope he gets what he deserves. He will be buried next to his father, where they can spend their afterlife together paying for their sins." They both gave me a quick squeeze and left the courtroom. I leaned heavily on Carlos as we made our way out of the courthouse. I hadn't been able to bring my scooter in and instead was wearing a walking shoe. Ella even had it tailored to match my suit.

Ranger, Bobby and I headed to Pino's to wind down before heading back to haywood. As we sat waiting for our food, Ranger asked me a question. "So Babe, How do you feel now that it's over?"

I looked at both men, thought for a moment before answering. "Like a pregnant woman who's damn hungry for some meatball sub and who's left hand feels surprisingly naked." As I pointedly looked at Ranger and then my ringer finger. Bobby burst out laughing.

"Well boss, you did knock her up, you really should make an honest woman out of her now that the dipshit is permanently out of the way." This earned him a smack on the back of the head, but it wasn't Ranger who did it. I looked up into the smiling face of my father as he slid in next to Bobby. "Hi pumpkin. I heard court went well. Sorry I couldn't be there, but Tank kept me away fearing I would kill the bastard with my bare hands when I heard everything. And you Brown, you had better speak respectfully about my daughter, if I get wind of you even joking like that again, you will meet me on the mats." Bobby gulped and nodded his head. "Yes, Sir." "And Ranger," He said as he gave him a very hard look. "When are you going to make an honest woman out of my daughter." "Tomorrow if she will let me." I just sat there in complete shock for the second time today. Guess I was getting married tomorrow. Time to call Lula, Connie and Mary Lou. We had some serious shopping to do. "Carlos," I said, "I'm going to need your credit card with the highest limit. The girls and I have some shopping to do. Ranger for once dropped the blank face and was speechless, I guess he was expecting a fight. Sorry Batman, not getting rid of me that easy.

AN: Please review, they keep me going. I shall share the baby names in the next post and everyone can tell me their favorites.


	14. Chapter 12

AN: Thanks for sticking with me guys. I am doing my best to keep up here, but life is throwing me curveballs. It may be slow going, but I will finish this story.

Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. IT belongs to the great and powerful Janet Evanovich.

*SPOV*

The next morning was full of activity. Connie closed the office for the day, the front window sporting a giant sign proclaiming "Closed for the Bombshell/Batman wedding" and a smaller sign reading "if you need bail, guess your gonna wait till Monday!"

We started with my dress, which was a cream color, since white for my first wedding didn't go over so great. All three women were to be my bride's maids/maid's of honor. I couldn't pick just one. Lula even agreed to wear something that actually fit her instead of two sizes too small. What was amazing is that all three women looked good in plum, so that was the color of their dresses. I even found someone to make me a custom made garter belt with the batman emblem all around it. I knew my own personal batman wouldn't miss the symbolism. After I got my dress fitted, I left the girls at the bridal shop to finish up while Bobby took me up to the hospital to get my leg x-rayed. I really didn't want my wedding photos messed up by a cast. The doctor was ok with removing the cast and giving me a walking boot that I had to wear pretty much until gametime and gave me a strict no heels rule and no dancing without the boot. After getting the cast removed and fitted with a boot, bobby hurried me off to the beauty parlor that conveniently had four open appointments just as we needed them. The ladies arrived just as I did and we were all buffed and waxed, plucked and fluffed, and painted to the nines. Just in time to get dressed and head to a beautiful Catholic church just outside of the burg.

We kept the ceremony simple. My father was there to walk me down the aisle, he even tearfully handed me over to Ranger, something he hadn't done at my first wedding. We read our own vows and did the ceremonial kiss, although Ranger's version was much better than "the dick's" version. We all headed in a caravan of black vehicles to the reception which was being held in Trenton's most posh hotel ballroom, which again was miraculously available. The food was amazing and I had no Idea how Ella had managed to make the cake she did and get ready for the wedding but that woman is magical to say the least. I even got carlos to eat some cake. When the time came to throw the bouquet and the garter, we gathered everyone around the dancefloor and had some fun with it. Ranger used his teeth to pull my garter down to my ankle before removing it with his hand then we stood together and throw our items into the crowd. Everyone hooted and hollered when Cal caught the garter and it got even louder when he realized that Grandma had caught my bouquet. Cal fainted dead away and luckily was caught by tank before he hit the floor. I spent most of my night in my chair watching the festivities after the ceremonial first dance and the daddy/daughter dance. My chest was slightly achey as my ribs were still healing and I was just worn out after such a long day. Ranger noticed I was nearing my limit so he made the appropriate comments and whisked me away to our honeymoon suite that had a huge Jacuzzi tub. I was never more thankful to have had my cast removed. Ranger helped me remove my gown and returned it to its special bag before helping me into the tub. He joined me moments later and minutes after that we made our marriage official. I truly was Mrs. Ricardo Carlos Manoso. I must have said that outloud because Carlos let out a chuckle.

"Babe," He said. "You've been my woman since the day in the diner. Just not everyone knew it, even us. But the streets knew it, my men knew it. Hell even your grandmother an your Dad knew it. Did you know what he said to me the first time I came to dinner?" I shook my head. "He told me that If I didn't take it slow with you, I'd scare you off, you weren't ready for marriage. You needed some time to fly and find yourself first. He did tell me that he knew that one day I would be his son-in-law. And he said that I'd make a much better son then Morelli over would." I just gasped and looked at him in shock. The first dinner with my parents was five years ago. Between then and now I had been engaged to Morelli, well sorta, more than once, I'd had a pregnancy scare thanks to grandma Morelli and her vordo. And through all that, Ranger had waited until the time was right, just based on what my father had said. Now I understood the comment at the diner yesterday. Tears sprang to my eyes as I thought of all my father had truly done for me, quietly, from the sidelines, all while I was thinking he was staying quiet to avoid my mother's wrath. "Ranger, we need to order a dozen boxes of my father's favorite Cuban cigars." This brought an outright laugh from him. "Babe, I've been sending your father cigars every month since that first dinner. Didn't you ever wonder where his new expensive cigars came from?" I smacked his beautiful well muscled chest for that one and nearly broke my hand. "Why didn't you tell me?" "because babe, that was between me and your father. No one was to know that I got advice on women from and older henpecked man who happened to be your father." This made me laugh so hard that my ribs hurt. My slight grimace would have went unnoticed to anyone other than Ranger, but he caught it. "Time to get you to bed my wife." I loved how that sounded and kissed him before telling him to call me that again. "As you wish Mrs. Manonso, My Wife, My Heart, My life." This had me tearing up again as he carried me to the bed and made slow tender love to me before falling asleep wrapped in each others arms.

We spent the next week being bums in our hotel room. Almost never leaving, especially since the room service was amazing and was available 24/hrs a day. We left only once, to visit my doctor. I was declared healthy and healed from most of my injuries although my ribs would probably give me grief for another month or so. Hopefully they would be completely healed before the baby needed more room and started pushing my organs up into my chest. I was now approximately 9 weeks along and the baby could be seen on an external ultrasound. He was growing like a weed and next month we would be able to do the dna test to double check the father of the baby. I knew it was Ranger's but it would go a long way towards helping my nightmares if I knew it for 100% certain that the baby was my Husband's. I still got goosebumps at the word. We took our first picture of our baby back to the hotel and began talking about names. But neither of us had found any that we truly felt fit together just right. But hey we had time. We only had another seven months before the batbaby joined us. So we put it on the back burner and enjoyed our not so quiet time as newly weds.

AN: Ok so here are the names i've decide i like, i need your help fitting them together to see what sounds best.

Juan, Carlos, Francisco, Gabriel, Mason, and of course we have the ever popular Carlos Ricardo let me know what you like and the name for batbaby will probaly come out int he next two chapters.


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